‘And she does love you, Tay.’
Tay looked back up at Angie. ‘Yeah. I know she does.’
‘She’s always idolized her daddy, darlin’, that’s all. And letting anybody else take his place hasn’t been something she’s found easy to do.’
‘I never wanted to take Charlie’s place in her life, Angie.’
‘I know, baby. I know that. And so does she, but… I don’t think us sending her away helped any, either. We pushed her further towards Charlie – we pushed her towards so many things… so we’ve only got ourselves to blame on that score.’
Tay sighed again. ‘Yeah. I guess we have. But maybe we can all try and put those mistakes behind us now, huh? Start again. All of us.’
Angie leant forward, kissing him quickly. ‘All of us,’ she whispered. ‘Now go, go on. Go get cleaned up before church.’
***
‘Everything go okay?’ Coby asked, pulling on his cut.
‘Everything’s just fine,’ Charlie replied, closing the apartment door behind him. ‘A deal’s been struck, and we have our money – Kel’s sorting it all out.’
‘The guns?’
‘They’re out of the warehouse. En-route to their new owners as we speak.’
‘And the sit-down with the Cabos and the Ravens? That still happening?’
‘All sorted.’ Charlie walked further into the room, his hands in his pockets as he slowly surveyed his surroundings. ‘It’s done.’
Coby frowned. ‘I thought nothing was happening for a day or two?’
‘Why do you think we’ve only just got back to the compound?’ Charlie leant against the sideboard, folding his arms. ‘I quite like meetings in the early hours of the morning, when it’s all quiet, no distractions. I always feel I can concentrate so much more on what really matters.’
Coby’s frown deepened. ‘Shouldn’t I have been there?’
‘You weren’t needed.’
‘I’m President of this chapter.’
‘And your duties in that role begin today. I’ve called a meeting for this morning. Shane’s rounding everyone up now.’
Coby pushed a hand through his hair, pulling a cigarette out the top pocket of his cut, lighting it up and taking a long drag. ‘So, are we good with the other crews?’
‘The Cabos and the Ravens have agreed to work together as far as the gun business goes. They have joint contacts that could prove quite lucrative for both crews, and once they’d talked everything over, sorted out something that worked for the both of them; something that meant we could just walk away from it all, everyone was happy. We got our money, the slate’s been wiped clean, they can carry on doing whatever it is they’re gonna do now, and we can finally start moving on with the changes this club needs. I wanted it all sorted out as soon as I could, Coby. That’s why we decided to get everyone together last night.’
‘You still should have called me.’
‘You had things to sort out with Lexi.’ Charlie took another look around the apartment. ‘But it seems you spent the night here, alone, whilst my daughter was with her mother.’
Coby let out a heavy sigh, turning his head to blow smoke out of the window. ‘She needed a bit of time, Charlie. To get her head straight.’
‘My daughter’s head will never be straight, Coby. That’s something you’re gonna have to deal with.’
Coby turned to look at Charlie. ‘She doesn’t trust me. She doesn’t trust you.’
‘She will. In time. She isn’t going anywhere, and she knows that. You should know that, too.’
‘I just want her with me,’ Coby said quietly, his eyes on the floor.
‘That’s why I wanted the gun business all tied up and finished with as soon as possible. Because, before I go home, I need to make sure Lexi is settled. That you and her are good. You’ve both got new roles to get used to, and I need to know you’re both okay before I head back to Newcastle.’
‘I think we’re big enough to sort ourselves out.’
‘You need to start thinking about setting up home together, Coby. Making a life together. Ozzie needs stability, and I know that isn’t something this club can always give – not in the conventional sense, anyway – but in terms of a mum and a dad who love each other, he can have that. He needs that.’
‘That’s all I want for us, Charlie.’
‘Then make it happen. I told you she’d probably throw the angry bitch thing in your face, because that’s exactly what Angie used to do. And Lexi, she’s more like her mother than she thinks she is. So, yeah, she was never gonna fall straight back into your arms. We don’t do happy ever afters in our world. But we can try and start to build the foundations of a solid future.’
‘I love her. I really need you to know that. I love her so much.’
Charlie smiled, walking over to him, giving his shoulder a friendly pat. ‘Yeah. I know you do.’
Coby looked at him. ‘Thanks, Charlie. For helping sort all this shit out.’
‘We’re getting there,’ Charlie sighed, walking over to the door. ‘Give it a few weeks and it’ll be like you were always sitting at the head of that table.’
Coby tried to smile back, but he was still finding it hard to get his head around everything. The changes that had happened in the past few weeks had been fast and painful, but in a way, given what he’d known, what he’d helped create, he should have been a hell of a lot more prepared than he had been.
‘Make it right with my daughter, Coby. And I promise you, everything else will just fall into place. This club, it needs you. But Lexi, she needs you more.’
***
‘Here. Let me help you with that,’ Kel said, taking the stroller from Lexi, allowing her to lift Ozzie out of his car seat.
‘Thanks. It’s ridiculous how much stuff such a small person needs.’
Kel smiled, watching as Lexi crouched down and settled Ozzie into his stroller, kissing him gently before she stood back up. ‘You okay?’
She looked at him. ‘Still a bit shell-shocked. Shane was one person I really wasn’t expecting to see again, so, to find out he’s alive, and that he’s coming back here, to Paradise… to find out he’s gonna be VP to the man who covered up his fake death… Christ, Kel, saying it all out loud doesn’t make it any easier to understand.’
Kel fell into step beside her as she pushed the stroller towards the clubhouse. ‘Yeah. I can’t argue with that, kiddo. So… how are things with you and our new President?’
She stopped by one of the tables outside the clubhouse, sitting down on a bench. ‘I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. But, when I think about all the crap our wanting to be together has caused, how can I walk away from him? How can I waste all that time? And yet, I still don’t know what I’m gonna do. I don’t know what I need to do.’
‘Do you love him?’ Kel asked, sitting down beside her.
‘With every inch of me, I love him. So much it hurts.’
‘Then it’ll all work out.’
‘You make it sound so easy.’
‘You’re the one making it sound hard.’
She looked down at Ozzie, his tiny fist balled up by his head, his eyes closed, his other arm wrapped around a cuddly teddy bear. ‘He’s got so much of Coby in him already,’ she said quietly, her hand tightly gripping the stroller. ‘His eyes, especially. He’s really got his daddy’s eyes… You know, sometimes, when I was back in Newcastle, I used to just lie there and look at him for hours, watching him sleep, studying his face, and all I could see was Coby. And I missed him so much, Kel. But there were times when I hated him, too. Hated him for leaving me, for making me go through everything on my own.’
‘You were never really alone,’ Kel said, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.
She continued to stare down at her baby son. ‘He wasn’t there with me, Kel. He’d walked away, again, and I was so angry with him for doing that. So fucking angry that he missed Ozzie being born. So angry that he wasn’t there. And now that he is…’ She
closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before exhaling slowly. ‘There was a point last night when I seriously thought about going back to Newcastle with Dad. Just a split second, a moment of weakness. Because the shit that’s been happening around here…’
Kel squeezed her hand again. ‘That’s all over now, kiddo.’
She turned her head to look at him. ‘Is it? Because, sometimes, it feels like it’s only just beginning.’
He looked down. ‘Coby is a worthy leader, Lexi. He knows what we need – what we all need. He’s promised to take this chapter into a whole new era, and I believe him when he says that.’ He raised his eyes to meet her’s. ‘You should, too.’
Lexi sighed, standing up, flicking the brake off Ozzie’s stroller. ‘Come on, baby boy. Let’s go see what’s happening in there.’
‘Lexi! Hang on!’
She swung around to see Kip running towards her. ‘Something up?’ she asked, shielding her eyes from the sun as her brother approached the table.
‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Kel said, giving her back a little rub. ‘You gonna be okay?’
She nodded, turning her head to quickly kiss his cheek. ‘Yeah. I’m gonna be just fine.’
‘Okay… Church in five, Kip.’
‘Yeah. Won’t be long.’ He watched Kel walk back into the clubhouse, taking off his cap and pushing a hand through his dirty-blonde hair. ‘You really okay?’ he asked, looking at Lexi.
She cocked her head slightly. ‘If one more person asks me that… anyway, never mind me. I thought you’d have been gunning for me, full of hell, telling me how all of this is my fault… which some of it is, to be honest.’
Kip crouched down beside Ozzie’s stroller, reaching in to gently touch his nephew’s cheek. ‘Yeah, well, I’m tired of all that crap now, Lex. I think we all are.’
‘I am sorry, Kip. And I know that word can sound so pointless and empty when attached to something so big, but…’ She sat back down on the bench, clasping her hands together on her lap. ‘It just all got out of control.’ She looked at her brother as he sat down beside her. ‘And I had no idea about Shane. About what Coby and Dad were doing. I knew nothing about any of that, I swear.’
‘I know,’ Kip said. ‘I know.’
She looked back down at her hands. ‘What I did to Jesse, that will always hurt.’
‘Neither of you were saints, Lex. He was acting like a prick at the time, and you lashed out in the only way you knew how. By throwing yourself at another man.’
‘You make me sound like some cheap stripper.’
He looked at her, a slow smile starting to spread across his face. ‘Well, by all accounts, that’s exactly how you got our new President into bed in the first place, wasn’t it? By acting like a cheap stripper.’
‘Fuck off!’ she laughed.
‘Setting everything up with Shane like that, though…’ He sighed, putting his cap back on. ‘We spent years hating a brother for something he hadn’t even done.’
She said nothing. What could she say? The guilt and the regret still flowing through her was never going to go away. But even that wasn’t a worthy enough punishment for the crap she’d put people through.
‘But, you know, it’s gonna be good to have him back,’ Kip went on, standing up, taking another look inside Ozzie’s stroller before his eyes met Lexi’s again. ‘It’s gonna be good having everyone back… anyway, I’d better get inside.’ He started to walk away.
‘Kip?’
He turned back around, his hands in his pockets as he looked at her. ‘Yeah?’
‘Thanks.’
‘For what?’
‘You know what.’
He smiled, before turning and walking into the clubhouse.
***
‘They still in there?’ Lexi asked, looking over towards the meeting room, parking Ozzie’s stroller just outside the kitchen door, checking he was okay before walking inside, over to Angie who was busy making up sandwiches.
‘Yeah. I can hear stirrings though so I don’t think they’re gonna be long now. Just thought I’d make up some lunch in case they’re feeling hungry.’
Lexi leant back against the counter, folding her arms. ‘Yesterday was quite a day.’
‘Can’t argue with that, darlin’.’
‘Mum?’
Angie looked at her daughter – her beautiful, beautiful daughter. ‘What is it, baby?’
‘You’re not mad at me, are you?’
Angie put down the knife she was holding, reaching out to touch Lexi’s cheek, gently stroking it with her thumb. ‘Why would I be mad at you?’
‘Because of what’s happened. Tay losing the presidency…’
‘He didn’t lose it, Lexi. He had it stolen from him.’
Lexi exhaled deeply, looking down at the tiled floor. ‘Coby didn’t set out to deliberately hurt Tay.’
‘I know,’ Angie sighed. ‘I know he didn’t.’ She picked up the knife and continued to slice the bread. ‘And if truth be told, there’s a part of Tay that’s relieved he isn’t in charge anymore. He’s not getting any younger, and if it means we get to spend more time together then I am all for it.’ She stopped what she was doing, staring down at the chopping board full of freshly sliced bread for a few seconds before she looked at Lexi. ‘You’re gonna have to be twice as strong as before, honey. You know that, don’t you? Coby’s head of that table now, and with that role comes responsibility, for every single one of the men who belong to this chapter – their families. And sometimes, no matter how much he claims we’re going totally legit now, something will happen that means he might have to make decisions you don’t always agree with. Decisions that might scare you or worry you and make you feel like walking away from all this shit. And I know you’ve felt like doing that before, Lexi. That you still feel like doing it right now, and I understand, I do. Because I’ve felt that way, too. So many times. But what’s ahead of you… I just want you to be prepared.’
Lexi took another deep breath, raising her eyes to the ceiling as she tried to think straight, to get her head around the decisions she had yet to make. ‘You will help me, won’t you, Mum? Whatever I decide to do.’
Angie put down the knife again and pulled Lexi in for a hug, holding her so tight, as though she would disappear if she let her go. And that was something Angie didn’t want to happen again. She wouldn’t lose her daughter a second time. ‘I’ll be here, baby. Your momma will always be here.’ She held her out at arm’s length, taking in everything from her long, slender legs to her toned, tattooed arms, to her beautiful face that still carried a hint of sadness. Her eyes, they still looked a little lost. ‘What do you really want, Lexi?’ Angie asked, stroking her daughter’s blonde hair from her eyes.
‘Coby,’ Lexi whispered. ‘I want Coby. And I want our baby to be brought up in a happy and safe environment, surrounded by people who love him. Because I can’t do this on my own.’
Angie smiled, leaning in to kiss Lexi, tucking her hair behind her ear. ‘Then you need this club, darlin’.’
Lexi looked up at the ceiling again, letting out another long, deep breath. ‘I know.’ She lowered her gaze, her eyes meeting Angie’s. ‘And that’s what scares me.’
Ozzie’s cries quickly shook all those thoughts out of her head, and without leaving a beat Lexi ran over to his stroller, gently lifting him out, lying him over her shoulder, rocking him gently and rubbing his back as his cries subsided. ‘Oh, there we go, baby. You’ve got to keep the noise down because your daddy’s trying to hold a very important meeting in there.’ She turned her head briefly to look into the chapel, her eyes falling straight on to Coby at the head of the table. He was sitting back in his chair, looking comfortable and relaxed, surrounded by the men who made up this chapter, the gavel lying just in front of his right hand. ‘Come on, gorgeous. Let’s go see grandma, huh? See if she’ll make you up a bottle, and make me a cup of coffee while we’re waiting for daddy.’
She’d no sooner gone back into the kitchen
than everyone started to leave the meeting, the clubhouse once more filling up with the sound of chatter and music – familiar sounds. Almost comforting, because to stand there and listen and watch everything that was going on, it was hard to believe the events of the last couple of days had happened. It was almost frightening how quickly people adapted to situations in this world. But maybe that was because, sometimes, in this world, you had no other choice.
‘All done?’ Angie asked, turning to see Tay walk in.
‘All done,’ he sighed, pushing a hand through his dark hair.
‘You look like a big weight’s just been lifted from your shoulders,’ Angie said, walking over to him. ‘I take it that meeting was a positive one?’
‘Let’s just say it was like closing the book on a particularly bad chapter, and moving on to one that promises so much more.’
Angie reached out and gently cupped his cheek, kissing him quickly. ‘Good.’ She smiled. ‘Things will get better, baby.’
He smiled, taking her hand. ‘I hope so. I really do.’ He looked over at Lexi, letting go of Angie and walking over to her. ‘Here. Let me hold the little guy. I haven’t had time to say a proper hello to my beautiful grandson yet.’
Lexi handed Ozzie over to Tay, smiling as she watched her boy snuggle in against him, gurgling away happily. ‘He likes you.’
‘Yeah, well, who doesn’t?’ Tay grinned, his eyes meeting Lexi’s, holding her gaze. ‘Lexi, I…’
She leaned in to him, kissing him on the cheek. ‘It’s over, Tay.’
He caught her hand as she walked away, and she turned back to face him. ‘I love you, kiddo.’
She smiled. ‘Yeah. I know. I love you, too.’
She walked out into the clubhouse, leaning back against the wall for a second, just looking around, taking everything in, this place she called home. But was it always going to be that way?
‘Coby’s looking for you.’
She looked up as Jesse leant back against the wall beside her, his eyes staring straight ahead, his hands in his pockets. ‘Well, he can’t be looking very hard, can he? It’s not like this place is a maze or anything.’
Revolution (The Lone Riders MC Series Book #1) Page 32